Tooth decay and dental disease can be caused by bacterial action resulting from the formation of plaque about the teeth and/or the entrapment of food particles between the teeth and interstices therebetween. The removal of plaque and entrapped food particles reduces the incidence of caries, gingivitis, and mouth odors as well as generally improving oral hygiene. Conventional brushing has been found to be inadequate for removing all entrapped food particles and plaque. To supplement brushing, dental flosses and tapes have been recommended. The term "dental floss", as used herein, is defined to include both dental flosses, dental tapes and any similar article.
To improve the effectiveness and convenience of dental flosses, dental flosses combining a thin "floss" portion and a thickened "brush" portion, together with a threader have been developed. The brush portion, when drawn between tooth surfaces, has been found to provide an improved cleaning action which removes materials left by the floss portion, when used alone. The combination provides a substantially superior cleaning action. Such a device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,727, for example, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Attractive and pleasant flavors and flavor odors have been provided in dental products including dental flosses to impart a flavor to the flosses and encourage their regular use. These have been applied in the form of flavoring oils to the surface of floss or wax coating on the floss, or dispersed in wax coatings applied to the floss. U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,949 describes a plurality of filaments impregnated with a water-insoluble wax with spray-dried flavor particles being adhered to the surface of the wax coatings. U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,365 describes a plurality of filaments coated with a polymer, the coating containing spray-dried flavor particles. The coating is specified to be one of four types of polymers, one being a nylon type polymer. The spray-dried flavor particles are matrices of water-soluble materials such as gums, starches, dextrins, and the like in which the flavoring materials are dispersed. A wide variety of flavoring and wax coating materials are discloses in this patent. The entire contents of the patents listed above are hereby incorporated by reference.